When government acquires your property for road construction
What you need to know:
No matter the attachment you have to your land, you have to give it up if it is marked as a road reserve. There are, however, procedures to getting compensated.
The procedure for compensation when a road passes through your property can be complicated. Lubega Elly, a resident of Kisaasi, Kasaana zone was left confused after a meeting between Kasaana residents and government officials who had come to give them a verdict on how they will be compensated during the Kasaana road project.
The road construction is yet to commence and will pass through some residents property.
Though a government officials explains how the compensation will be and what will be considered, Lubega was left concerned because he is a squatter (kibanja holder) with many developments but has no land agreement to ascertain this.
Most of his tenants have refused to pay rent for fear that they will be evicted before the paid rent expires.
This is one of the dilemmas land owners go through when their land or developments are affected by a road construction to which they ignorantly give in to impostors in search for an easy way out.
Sustainable development requires governments to provide public facilities and infrastructure that ensure safety and security, health and welfare, transportation (road and railway construction), social and economic enhancement, and protection and restoration of the natural environment (wetlands and forest reserves).
Survey and value process
Compulsory land acquisition in Uganda refers to the process by which a government agency in Uganda acquires private land for the purpose of public facilities and development of infrastructural facilities or urbanisation of the private land. The government must provide adequate and prompt compensation to the affected land owners for their rehabilitation and resettlement. In order to carry out road upgrades and construction, a government lead agency in this sector needs to acquire private land. It may be the property of residents, business owners, or various other legal interests such as lessees.
What the law says
Agreements determine pay
Though some people are hesitant to such an support an initiative, land acquisition by government remains compulsory for it to accomplish government projects for better service delivery in accordance with articles 26 and 237(2) of the Constitution.
So if it is important for the affected people to be aware of how a road project compensation exercise is conducted in order to them and avoid scam. Land surveying and valuation process depends on the requirements for the proposed roadwork, it may be necessary to acquire the whole property or only part of it.
The terms ‘total’ or ‘partial’ are used. It is important to note that the Roads agency is not required to acquire more property than is necessary for the roadwork. The affected land by road construction is first surveyed and valued by government appraiser.
The appraiser looks at the land tenure system of the land to be purchased. A strip map is produced and the percentage of the property the project will occupy mapped to ascertain how much will be compensated to the land owners for the entire project.
Ronald Bwire, a land surveyor, at Kampala Capital City Authority (KCCA), explains that the type of development, for example commercial businesses, crops, a perimeter wall are all considered in the amount to be compensated.
During the valuing process, the whole house is compensated even if only apart of it is interfered with.
“However, a house will be undervalued if it was built with no approved plan so people should beware of this before complaining of being compensated less than expected also if a house is in a road reserve, there is likelihood that you may not be compensated because it is illegally built” Bwire asserts.
Kibanja Vs landowner Going about it.
There is always confusion when it comes to who is to be compensated when it comes to the land owner and their tenant (kibanja owner) who all do not want to miss out on as they both own part of the developments and land to be expanded into by the project.
Bwire clarifies that for a kibanja owner, money for all developments he or she made on the land is all that they can get from government and the landlord is compensated for the land itself.
And in order to determine the real owner of the developments, government officials work hand in hand with the local council in the area to establish the rightful owner of these developments because on rare occasions the kibanja owners have possession agreements to show.
Though the land occupants are given three months relocation notice before construction of the road, the compensation time can be negotiated to allow the land occupants get payments earlier and relocation easily.
If a dispute arises due to the land and developments owners disagreeing with the payments for their properties, then they could hire the services of a private land valuer and if values contrast then the matter can be forwarded to court.
